How to build a PC

[Mmmm]Homer · November 6, 2003

It's taken a little while to get around to doing this thread but here it is.

I'll first give you some resources to look up on AMD and Intel systems and decide which one you should go for. Then I'll give you a step by step of building whichever you decide on. Next, how to install the OS and get it running. You might need some more help at this point, so I'll give you more areas to ask questions.

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Step 1

Let's figure out what to build. You should read up on as many resources as you can, and keep an open mind. I constantly reconfigure my "Dream PC" in my head based on new stuff coming out and prices dropping.

SharkeyExtreme.com Guides are a good place to start. Updated monthly, look for the latest one for the Extreme and Value systems and look at both. You'll probably end up closer to the Value system since you can get the most bang for the buck there. While you're there check up on the weekly CPU and memory price guides to further your knowledge.

AnandTech.com has guides too, with a little more technichal analysis to them, and generally a good website to find articles on most things PC.

Now on to Tom's Hardware. If you know me you know I like Tom's. There was some political hub-bub that Tom got himself into with the nVidia vs. ATi debate earlier this year and some fled the site, but I stay out of it and remain happy with Tom's. I check the site daily and end up reading about all kinds of things I probably won't ever buy. The PC's & How To section has great first-time builder articles on how to screw together a PC:

Building Your Own PC, Part 1

Building Your Own PC, Part 2:

Reader How Tos: Building For Stability

And arcane knowledge, such as....

PC Size Means Everything

High Power For Power Users: 13 Power Supplies In The Spotlight

By now you would really like to price this stuff, check Pricewatch.com first and then go to Newegg.com. It is a vendor, but it's also a great resource. I read the reviews on products frequently, and if you do too you'll notice that everyone loves Newegg's service and return policies. I can second that too. Put your system "together" here using their Wishlist or just the Cart. Yes, I am endorsing them.

Maybe you need a little more help deciding which motherboard to get? Try the AMDmb.com Forums. Look there under each mobo manufacturer's listing. Or for Intel, post in their Intel motherboards forum. Another useful Intel resource is Intelforums.net.

And don't forget about software. Yes, warez is out there but I wholeheartedly suggest you get a legal copy of Windows XP. Home or Pro, either is good, actually way better than any previous Windows release. Home ($91 OEM, Newegg) supports one processor, Pro ($138 OEM, Newegg) supports 2 processors and has some addtional networking security stuff that I have yet to find, and then find useful. Norton SystemWorks Pro 2003 gets a big thumbs up too, Newegg has it for $23. It's an OEM disk like I suggest getting all your software, and you'll save 50-80% off the price by not getting the cardboard box. I suggest NOT installing the CleanSweep component however, as it is not very useful and is a resource hog. If you have it installed now consider uninstalling it.

That's a lotta research, but that's what it takes. And once you know it you'll be way better off than you started.

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Step 2 or How to Install the OS

No need to reinvent the wheel here, so I'm starting off with an article written by Mr Steveo at the AMDmb.com forums in their Intel section. He did a great job, register there and post if you need to. Go there, read, come back, everything is linked for you and I don't want to lift someone elses's hard work.

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Step 3

More reading! Paul's Unnoficial FAQ's are well known on the web too, go read one or two here at Sudhian.com, and pay attention to the installation order.

If you're building a PC with a VIA chipset you'll need to know about VIA Arena where you can get the latest 4in1 Hyperion drivers for all VIA chipsets, as well as other VIA specific drivers. It's this kind of arcane stuff that can hang you up, and why you'll write questions on $50 bills and send them to me. :blink:

Here's another important point: static electricity - take it seriously. My technique that was taught to me by a wise old nerd is to plug in the PSU (installed in the case) to a 3 prong outlet (one that is grounded, make sure first with a tester) and with power actually going to it - plug strips turned on and the PSU switch on the back (if it has one) turned on. FYI if your stove has a 110v outlet on it that one is always grounded through the 220v circuit. Now, whenever you are gonna touch a piece of hardware first touch the bare metal of the case for a moment to ground yourself. Then handle the hardware still being careful not to touch the actual electronics as the human body does have micro currents running through it (you saw the Matrix, right?). If you get up and move about or pet your dog or rub a ballon on your head, touch the case again to ground yourself before continuing. Humidity and temperature will affect how much static is in your area. If you feel the least bit uncomfortable with this method then drop the $5 on a wrist strap.

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That's it for now, I'll add to this as I think of items or people post up useful information. Please feel free to post up your PC building questions here as well.

EDIT: A few thoughts have occured to me since this was written and I'll put a call out for thoughts, methods, and web resources for the following:

Home vs. Pro

Arctic Silver

HSF, which to use....websites

Cable cleanliness

Case modding

Choosing a case

Programs to install on your new PC first (utilities, benchmarking software, burn-in)

Noise reduction

Motherboard drivers, or "What?! I have to install drivers for my motherboard?"

Common PC building mistakes

Things to backup/transferring stuff to your new system

RAID vs. single drives

more?

Submitted by: Wanted in 17 States

How to reformat your drive and reinstall Windows

Submitted by: DwEEziL

I prefer Pro myself. For one, the Home edition cannot be added to a domain (for most people, this is not an issue). I don't know much about the other differences but everything I have heard discribes Home as a "slightly crippled" version of Pro.

I have used both Radio Shack's thermal paste and Arctic Silver III and haven't seen a great difference between them. Everything I have read says that AS will help lower the cpu temp several (about 6 or so) degrees. Since I watercool, it isn't that drastic for me. I do know that SwOOp went from the stock thermal tape thing on his Intel's heatsink fan to AS and saw a good improvement. As for application, I find it best to use a razor blade to apply. Just put a very thin, smooth layer on. You don't need a great deal but make sure that all of the part of the cpu that touches the heatsink is covered. Don't put too much on or it acts as an insulator instead of conducting the heat away from the cpu.

As far as which HSF are best, that is a matter of opinion. I personaly like the Thermaltake or Thermalright ones with the all copper heatsink base. Copper is an excellent heat conductor.

Cable cleaness - the better organized the inside of your case 1) the better for removing/upgrading parts (don't have to fight around cables) and 2) the better the airflow. Airflow is essential, both intake and exhaust. Typically, your # of exhaust fans should equal your # of intake fans (unless you have larger exhaust fans, in which case you should check the air displacement specs of all fans and try to match them up). Typically, it is a good idea to open up your case and blow out all the dust about every 2 months. Get yourself some compressed air and blow off all your fans, heatsinks, hard drives, whatever you see that has acquired dust.

Case Modding - Rooster will reply...He is Da' Man Ã¢â€žÂ¢ when it comes to modding.

Choosing a Case - This is highly dependant on your personal tastes, purpose of system, and $$. Some like the flashy cases with windows and cathode ray lights (such as the popular Antec case that was adopted by a ton of companies, i.e., the Thermaltake Xaser, the older Alienware cases, etc). Other's like the simple but stylish, sleek cases (such as the Lian Li's or Cooler Master), still others like the plain simple cases (lower end name brands and generic ones that can usually be found for under $40) for the simple fact that they are cheap and they will just find a place under a desk somewhere. For special purpose systems, like a Movie box or a LAN special, the Shuttle cases are nice, coming with decent mobo's w/a number of integrated items (usually not the best but often still good in their own right) as well as AGP slots and are very portable, some having handles in the top. Whatever you choose to get, I say, get what you want. Some might see plunking down $200 on a case as wasteful, but it will be YOUR case and the outward expression of your system...again, get what you want.

Utilities - I have a ton of utilities on my system but I typically don't really have a set list I install from the get go, just as I need them. Some good benchmark/stress testing software is SiSoft Sandra and PCMark2k2/3DMark (2k1 for pre-DirectX 9 systems and 2k3 for DirectX 9 systems). Other utilites I have are a good firewall (currently using Zone Alarm Pro 4x but probably will swith to Tiny Personal Firewall 5), spyware detectors (my fav is SpybotS&D, also Ad-Aware), antivirus software (for me it is a must...others disagree. I use Norton's Antivirus Corporate Edition 8.1 w/Live Update set to run every night around 3am). I also use DUMeter for real-time network throughput monitoring. I am sure I will remember other utilities later (I haven't included pro-active security utils like network sniffers, port scanners, etc as these aren't normally for the regular user but I deal with security some in my line of work).

Noise Reduction - There are new types of fans that use magnets to spin the rotors on fans now to help eliminate some of the noise. Also, some fans come with speed control so you can adjust the speed down when you aren't using the computer (helping to eliminate some of the noise). There is also a product called Duramat (car stereo enthusiasts will have heard of this) that you can use to line your case to help cut down on noise. For other noise reduction you will have to sacrifice some performance, i.e., going with a slower speed HD, using passive cooling on your vid card (meaning just a heatsink, not a hsf...believe it or not, there is a model of the ATI 9700 Pro (and maybe the 9800 by now) that uses passive cooling).

Motherboard drivers - have to look these up more...my philosophy? If it ain't Baroque, don't fix it.

Common PC Building mistakes - 1) forgeting thermal paste on the CPU/HSF 2) not connecting all necessary Power cables 3) Buying OEM Hard Drives then finding out you have no IDE cables (most OEM HDs only come with the drive and nothing else...often Motherboards will come with cables though) 4) installing the LED plugs upside down - Not a show stopper, but it is a pain sometimes trying to figure it out. 5) Shorting out parts with static electricity...make sure to ground yourself before going in your case, either with grounding bracelets or, like me, make sure to grab the metal part of the case first with your free hand 6) Using too much pressure or a custom HSF not for your CPU and cracking the CPU DOH!!!! All I can think of at the moment

Backup/Transferring - I typically partition off my HDs and put the OS on it's own partition. When I need to reinstall, I just need to wipe out that partition and reinstall. All my data is still on the other partitions. For transferring to a new system, I basically do the same thing. Either transfer an HD with my OS partition and data partitions and reinstall, or just move my data HDs over. As for backing up, I only back up very critical stuff, i.e., only those things I can't get again offline such as homework, programs I have written, etc and I currently use CDRs for any backups of this type

RAID vs single drives - With the different RAID configurations you, based on your desires, do anything from increase performance (RAID 0, striped no-parity, 2 disk minimum; RAID 5, striped w/ parity, 3 disk minimum) to data redundancy (RAID 1, mirrored, 2 disk minimum; RAID 5 striped w/ parity). To implement RAID, all disks must be the same size. Parity basically means that a segment of the disc contains the information needed to recreate all the data. RAID 0 will give you the best performance because it allows the data to be written across/read from multiple disks at the same time (increased write/read speed) but you don't get any redunancy (fault tolerance) while RAID 1 gives you the best redundancy and restore time but slowest performance since data is essentially written twice, once to each HD. You also have to sacrifice have your storage space to implement RAID 1. RAID 5 is a happy medium because data is written to/read from multiple drives but with the parity bit data can still be restored in case of a hard drive failure. The down side is that with RAID 5 you sacrifice the total of one drive for the parity (i.e., if you have 3 disks in a RAID 5, your storage space would be the total of 2 disks, say 3-120GB drives would equal 240GB because the other 120GB is used for the parity data...the parity data is striped along all the drives as well as the regular data) but you don't sacrifice 50% like you do with RAID 1. For me, I don't need data redundancy as I explained in the previous paragraph, so I don't actually implement RAID. Some people like to use RAID 0 for increased performance (which I might switch to since I have two 160GB drives now) but for the average home user RAID 1 and 5 is not needed necessary. RAID 0 will be an improvement over regular, single drives because of the ability to access multiple HDs at the same time. The only problem with it is that you need a RAID controller which is often and extra expense. Most newer mobos come with models that have it built in or you can pick up a RAID controller from your favorite store (www.newegg.com).

Sorry if the RAID explanation went over people's head, just trying to explain it a bit.

ConGregation · November 6, 2003

Can you say "Post count"?

Jiffy · November 6, 2003

hax?

[Mmmm]Homer · November 6, 2003

n00bs!

White Knight · November 6, 2003

Useful note:

In the PC building world, you will almost always (prolly 95% of the time) get the most bang for your buck building (Top of the Line) - (atleast 2).

Never ever EVER buy the top of the line. You are paying for the fact that it is top of the line...and it will be obsolete in 2 weeks.

Another useful item, is if you are thinkin of building a PC, spec out what you want...then go compare to Dell Systems currently available through http://techbargains.com/index.cfm . These guys typically have the cheapest Dell deals. Now things to remember about this are:

1. Dell doesn't use the top of the line parts that it used to.

2. Dell doesn't have the top of the line service that it used to.

3. Dell is da debil.

But if the prices are comparable (or cheaper) between your system and the best Dell deal out there, then its worth your money (and more fun) to build it yourself.

If ne1 has any PC building questions, I've built atleast 5 over the years so feel free to ask.

TheBugs · November 6, 2003

homer... :wub:

Crowbar · November 12, 2003

keep it commin homey, just recently decided to build myself a pc, gonna take awhile though. I have this problem with saving money, see. If it's there for no apparent reason, it gets spent on something unneeded. So I think my best bet is to buy parts when I can afford them, build it slowly over a few months. I'm pretty set on AMD, I want an Athalon 64, but maybe I'll just get an Athalon XP 2800+ - 3000+. What's this Athalon FX I've heard about? Of course, with that, I'll be getting an nForce2 (or 3) motherboard.

I've just always been a little scared to build a computer. I can take them apart, switch components between comps, and put them back together, but I've heard of people screwing up when building their own computers. Things not working for some unknown reason, stuff like that. Guess I got enough resources to solve me problems though.

Thanks for postin this stuff, Homer.

[Mmmm]Homer · November 12, 2003

The Athlon (one 'a') FX-51 and 64/3200+ both were introduced. The P4EE is showing up, but is expensive. Read about them in this article on Tom's.

In addtion to the nForce3 chispet there is also the VIA K8T800 chipset, which might be better at this time.

You should do ok with incremental upgrades and I would segment them into groups to upgrade at one time, the order isn't as important:

A: hard drive upgrade

B: motherboard, cpu, ram (possibly PSU too)

C: video card

D: case, and all other

You can plan on a new install of Windows for A, B, and possibly C (especially if you are changing from ATi to nVidia or vice versa). But that's good practice for the aspiring PC builder! Start checking Tom's each day for anything pertinent to your upgrade plans and soon you'll have a grasp of what to get.

Crowbar · November 13, 2003

I'll probably do the vid card first, I'm going to stick it in the comp I have to replace my GeForce2 GTS Pro. I want an Radeon 9600 Pro, so I should reinstall the OS when I put it on?

Trouble .gc · November 13, 2003

my video card has gone ker-plunk...my screen is all dark and it hurts my eyes....oddly, cs looks fine

[Mmmm]Homer · November 13, 2003

Crowbar,

If your Windows is running fine right now and you are going to do A or B in the next few months I would:

1) back up everything

2) uninstall detonators (making sure you then have your video adpater to 'default video adapter')

3) pull out the GF2 and put in the 9600 Pro

4) install Catalyst drivers

5) If you have video problems then reinstall Windows, otherwise run as-is

This should work, but I wouldn't suggest it if you were doing this as a permanent setup. A clean system is a nice thing, but you'll get to do that soon enough. Unless you want the practice that is. BTW, are you currently using Windows XP?

dwEEziL · November 13, 2003

Except for one part, I agree. If you replace the motherboard, you WILL have to reinstall. Where as computer cloning has come a long way, I have never had success in loading a computer image from one computer to another if the motherboard is a different type.

dwEEziL · November 13, 2003

Homer,Nov 5 2003, 10:06 PM] EDIT: A few thoughts have occured to me since this was written and I'll put a call out for thoughts, methods, and web resources for the following:

Home vs. Pro

Arctic Silver

HSF, which to use....websites

Cable cleanliness

Case modding

Choosing a case

Programs to install on your new PC first (utilities, benchmarking software, burn-in)

Noise reduction

Motherboard drivers, or "What?! I have to install drivers for my motherboard?"

Common PC building mistakes

Things to backup/transferring stuff to your new system

RAID vs. single drives

more?